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Compasisionate Dragon Healing: TCM Diagnosis

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* This page is presented for informational purposes only. In all cases of

serious illness it is recommended that a qualified practitioner be consulted.

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Diagnosis is of crucial importance in any medical or healing system that works

on the body. Metaphysical healing systems tend to pay far less attention to
the body assuming that removing emotional and mental causes will automatically
remove the physical symptom. While this is a legitimate approach, in the
meantime, the body still needs to be looked after. The following is a brief
overview of the diagnostic approach of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

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The point of diagnosing is to design a treatment. An improper diagnosis will

lead to an improper treatment and as often as not a worsening of the
conditions.
Even though the approach of TCM seems fairly straightforward, the fact is
that most often one encounters numerous and often contradictory symptoms
in the same patient.
There is a lot more to diagnosing then, than simple observation of symptoms.
One must take account of the relative strengths of symptoms, whether they
are getting stronger or weaker in relation to other symptoms, the relative
strength of the patient, and other such intangibles. Intuition is as important a
diagnostic tool as knowledge and experience.

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Compasisionate Dragon Healing: TCM Diagnosis

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The most common method of diagnosis in Traditional Chinese Medicine

is the so-called 8 Principals. Diagnosing a disharmony consists of asking
whether the condition is

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Internal or External,

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Hot or Cold,

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a Deficiency or an Excess,

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whether it has a Yin character or a Yang character.

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Causes of Disease According to Traditional Chinese Medicine.

There are many factors that can cause disease. In Chinese medicine in fact
illness is characterized as a 'syndrome.' That is a collection of symptoms that
together make up a pattern of disharmony in the body. Nor are these
symptoms restricted to the body. Along with physical symptoms, emotional and
even mental states are considered in the diagnosing of a syndrome.
Causes of disease generally speaking fall into a number of general categories.
There are
a) 6 Exogenous Factors,
b) 7 Endogenous (emotional) factors,
c) conditions arising from improper diet,
d) too much activity (hyperactivity),
e) too little activity stagnation,
f) traumatic injury,
g) insect, animal or reptile bite.
Within each category there are a number of differentiating categories to
look at. For example the 6 Exogenous factors are
1.Wind,
2. Cold,
3. Heat,

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4. Fire,

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Compasisionate Dragon Healing: TCM Diagnosis

4. Fire,

5. Dampness,
6. Dryness.
These will quickly be recognized as conditions that exist in nature. Under
ordinary circumstances these are not pathological to the human body, but
become so when conditions are extreme, sudden or the body's resistance is
low.
Exogenous factors are seen as those that enter the body from the exterior
and are closely related to seasonal changes.
For example what we call Colds and Flu, seen most often in the fall when
seasons are changing, are characterized in TCM as invasions of Wind, invasions
of Wind/Cold, or invasions of Wind/Heat, depending on the severity of
symptoms and depth of penetration into the body.
Heat and Fire Syndromes are seen most often in the summer. Dampness
syndromes are seen most often in later summer. Dryness is seen most often
in Autumn. Cold Syndromes are seen most often in the Winter.
Ambient pain in the muscles and joints called by various names in Western
medicine is characterized in Chinese Medicine as 'Bi Syndrome' caused by
invasion of Wind/Cold/Dampness.

There are several different kinds of 'Bi Syndrome.'

Ancient physicians, of course had little notion of invading microscopic
organisms like bacteria or viruses and while treatment options do include
'expulsion of pathogenic factors' it is not enough to simply expel the
particular factor. Proper treatment most often includes tonifying specific
organs or the body as a whole both to help with expelling the invading
pathogen and to speed recovery.

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Compasisionate Dragon Healing: TCM Diagnosis

Signs and Symptoms of

External cause - characterized by sudden onset affecting the
exterior of the body, sensitivity to Cold or Wind, slight fever, thin
coating on the tongue and a superficial pulse.
Internal cause - characterized by longer term onset as the pathogen
works its way into the interior of the body. In most cases the internal
organs are affected and signs and symptoms of channel and organ
disharmony are seen. See below for symptoms of each organ system
disharmony.
Cold - characterized by aversion to Cold, pale tongue, preference for
hot drinks, pale face, thin pulse.
Heat - characterized by aversion to heat, red tongue, preference for
cold drinks, flushed face, full pulse.
Deficiency - deficiency refers to not enough Qi to ward off
pathogenic factors. Deficiency manifests in the body in different ways
including deficiency of Qi, deficiency of Blood, Deficiency of Yin or
Yang.
Symptoms are varied but include emaciation, listlessness, feeble
breathing, loss of strength, shortness of breath, spontaneous
sweating, night sweats, incontinence, and pain that is alleviated by
pressure.
Excess - refers to hyperactivity of Qi in the body. Excess manifests
in the body in different ways including excess Qi, excess Blood, Excess
Yin or Yang.
Again symptoms are varied but include agitation, loud voice, heavy
breathing, fullness and/or bloating in the chest and/or abdomen, pain
aggravated by pressure, constipation, irritability, thick tongue coating
and full pulse.
Yin & Yang are a pair of principals used to generalize categories of
syndromes. Once we have looked at all the symptoms presented we
can say whether a condition is mostly Yin or mostly Yang. *see Yin/Yang
Theory page.
For example Cold syndromes are Yin in character. Heat syndromes are
Yang in character. Deficiency syndromes are Yin in character. Excess
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syndromes are Yang in character. External syndromes are Yang in

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Compasisionate Dragon Healing: TCM Diagnosis

syndromes are Yang in character. External syndromes are Yang in

character. Internal syndromes are Yin in character.
It is rare of course that one finds a condition that is purely Yin or
purely Yang, but from a diagnostic perspective one may be able to
gauge the relative strength and direction of movement in the body.
This is important information for designing treatments. For Yang
syndromes we need to reduce. For Yin syndromes we need to tonify.

Improper Diet
Key to Chinese thinking is balance and harmony. Everything must be balanced
with everything else in order to achieve harmony. In the area of diet, the
Chinese have separated all foods into 5 different categories according to
taste. Each of these categories has a specific effect on the body and why
Chinese cooking makes every effort to balance all five tastes. This is known
as 5 Elements theory.
The five tastes are
1. Sweet
2. Sour,
3. Bitter,
4. Salty,
5. Pungent,
For more information see *5 Elements Theory page
In theory, then one can eat pretty much what one wants as long it is balanced.
By this though, I am not necessarily referring to the over processed sugar
based packaged snacks so popular in the West these days. The food one eats
must have at least some nutritive value.
So it is not so much that specific diets are bad for you, it is the
overindulgence of specific kinds of diets that lead to illness. For example,
overindulgence in a hot spicy diet will lead to symptoms of Heat or Fire and
excess in the body. A strictly vegetarian diet of raw vegetables will lead to
symptoms of Cold and Deficiency. A diet with too much Dairy in it will lead to
symptoms of Cold and Phlegm.
For optimum health, though, certain diets are recommended.
As well as the kinds of foods that are consumed attention must also be paid
to how food is prepared and how it is consumed. In Taoist philosophy there is
a lot more to food than just eating it.
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Dragon
TCM Diagnosis
a lot more
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food than
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it.

Each of the tastes characterized above, according to the 5 Elements theory

is linked to a major organ system.
1. Sweet taste is linked to the Spleen/Stomach organ system.
2. Sour taste is linked to the Liver organ system,
3. Bitter taste is linked to Heart organ system,
4. Salty taste is linked to the Kidney organ system,
5. Pungent taste is linked to the Lung organ system.
It is often the case in Chinese medicine that appropriate treatment for an
illness is a change in diet. The line between what is food and what is medicine
is quite blurred, and many items that are considered food or spice in the west
are consumed for their medicinal properties in the East. Among these, onions,
garlic, pumpkin seeds, scallions, ginger, leeks, rhubarb, watermelon, mustard
seeds, cinnamon, chives, and cloves.

Hyperactivity, Stagnation, Traumatic Injury, Insect, Animal or

Reptile Bite,
These are all variations on a similar theme. Physical activity, beyond one's limit
leads to injuries to muscles and tendons. These can be relatively minor or
quite serious. Relatively minor injuries not treated and persistently
aggravated can lead to serious injury over time.
Not enough physical activity leads to atrophy of muscles and tendons.
The treatment is either to slow down or speed up. In other words figure out
what the appropriate amount of physical exercise is for you and do that.
We in North America tend to think being bitten by insects, animals or reptiles
as little more than an annoyance. Certainly here in Southern Ontario where I
am, there's nothing too dangerous. Still there are many parts of the world
where this sort of thing is a serious concern and an important cause of illness
that TCM concerns itself with.

Endogenous Causes
Endogenous causes of illness are characterized in Chinese medicine as
the 7 Emotions. They are
1. Anger - associated with the Liver system
2. Joy - associated with the Heart system
3. Worry/ Overthinking - associated with the Spleen/Stomach system
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4. Grief - associated with the Lung system

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4. Grief - associated with the Lung system

5. Sorrow - (chronic grief) associated with the Lung system
6. Fear - chronic condition (phobias) associated with the Kidney
system
7. Fright - acute condition - associated with the Kidney system.
Emotional responses have an effect on the body. This is nothing new. When we
are fearful or severely angry, the stomach tightens, we sweat, the heart
pumps faster and stronger, we breathe faster, adrenaline and other
chemicals are released into the blood to stimulate some organ systems and
shut others down. When we are in grief or in joy we dont feel much like
eating, sleeping is difficult, we may have heart palpitations, or we may feel
disoriented.
While modern medicine continues to scratch its head and wonders if emotional
responses can actually have any lasting effect on the physical body, ancient
Chinese physicians had a useful working model of just how emotions and the
body are intricately linked and affect each other.
Using this system we are able to diagnose internal disharmonies according to
external symptoms observed. The following are some of the major symptoms
that one may observe, the organ system to which they apply and the emotion
that is suggested by the symptom.
This exercise is intended to help you begin to understand what it is your body
is telling you about your emotional state. As well it is to help you understand
how your emotional state affects the body. The links between the body and
the emotions are intimate and interactive. Physical symptoms indicate
emotional disharmony and emotional expression indicates physical disharmonies.
Strange as it may seem, I believe that most of us are not nearly as familiar
with our emotions as we might think.
For example Grief is housed in the Lungs. Grief would then be seen as an
important aspect of Asthma. Any treatment of Asthma, to be effective from
an Wholistic perspective would have to include reduction or release of Grief.
In Acupuncture, the same point that is chosen to tonify the Lungs also helps
to release Grief.
The following then is a list of symptoms, which are, in Chinese medicine
indicators of disharmony in the five main organ systems, which according to
the 5 elements theory suggests also an underlying emotional component.

Spleen/Worry.
The Spleens
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main function is to Transform water, food and air into Qi and

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Compasisionate Dragon Healing: TCM Diagnosis

The Spleens main function is to Transform water, food and air into Qi and
Transport that Qi throughout the body.
Needless to say, this is an important function. If the body is properly
nourished, the Spleen can do its job and good health is the result.
If the Spleen does not receive the proper raw materials it has to work that
much harder to extract the Qi and transport it. As this function is critical to
the organism as a whole, the key to any treatment for any kind of illness is to
feed the body well. In severe illness this may involve herbal or pharmaceutical
medication.
The emotion of the Spleen is Worry or Overthinking. The balance of Yin and
Yang is always the goal.
It is recommended that one eat in peaceful surroundings without distractions.
Some recommend that one not even talk to others while eating and certainly
watching TV, reading, doing homework, or catching a bite on the run are not
healthy things to do.
Of course, this becomes a vicious cycle. The more we worry, the more
deficient the Spleen becomes which in turn causes us to worry still more.
Nourishing the body is absolutely primary in the recovery from any illness.
If the Spleen system is nourished properly, the better it can nourish all the
other systems and their related emotions.
In the West, perhaps it is a stretch to grasp that simple changes to ones
diet can have far reaching emotional and physical consequences, but in the
East it is a fundamental principal. You may take note of the fact that people
who mainly 'think' for a living often have stomach problems.
The following physical symptoms suggest a Spleen dysfunction of some kind.
Emotionally, they suggest Worry/Overthinking.
Fatigue/tiredness/listlessness
Puffy eyelids and puffiness under the eyes
Bleeding gums
Craving for sweets
Drooling/excess saliva/saliva leaking
Anything to do with the mouth or lips
Prolapse of any vessel including uterus,scrotum,intestine,anus
Easy bruising or bleeding
Rashes of any kind
A thick or swollen tongue with teeth marks on the side.
Belching/hiccups
Borborygmus or stomach/intestinal gurgling.
Painful, numb or tingling extremities, especially the feet.
Ulcers/hyperacidity/chronic heartburn/indigestion.
Stomach aches

It is often the case that these symptoms come and go related directly to our
diet and our propensity for worry. Often we dont pay much attention until
something becomes chronic and starts to affect our lives. If a symptom is not 8/13
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Compasisionate Dragon Healing: TCM Diagnosis

something becomes chronic and starts to affect our lives. If a symptom is not
too much of an inconvenience we either ignore it or cover it up and go on with
what we were doing.
Since Fatigue is a major symptom of Spleen dysfunction, if you have Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome it might be a good idea to look at your propensity to worry
or over-think things, as well as your diet, not only what you eat but how you
eat.

The Lungs.
Disharmony in the Lungs takes 2 forms a) acute such as the response
to sudden loss of a family member, and b) chronic - characterized as
'sorrow' which may be held in the body for months or years.
The Lungs are associated with the emotion of Grief. Symptoms
indicating a Lung system disharmony and by association Grief as an
underlying component include
Breathlessness
Asthma/any kind of breathing problem
Any kind of nasal problem (as the nose is associated with the Lungs)
Phlegm in the lungs or sinuses
Susceptibility to colds, flu, or other ambient infections
Lungs govern the skin so any kind of skin problem may indicate Grief as
an underlying component.
Inability to urinate fully
Fatigue/listlessness
Foggy mind
Sneezing (an explosive clearing of pathogenic factors)
Sweating, especially spontaneous sweating in the absence of a cold or
flu, indicates a Lung deficiency, or perhaps a clearing of grief along
with other pathogenic factors. Spontaneous sweating is a common
symptom of cleansing.

The Liver/Anger
The Liver is responsible for the free flow of Qi in the body. It stores blood
and is responsible for maintaining blood levels and efficiency. The emotion
attached to the Liver is Anger.
Since the Livers responsibility is to move Qi in the body, a Liver disharmony
will have an effect on all the other organ systems and their related emotions.
While the basis for the 5 Elements theory is precisely that all organ systems,
their functions, and related emotions is in fact, that they are interconnected
and affect each other, The Liver's effect is particularly pronounced.
This is consistent with the observation that Anger is a particularly strong,
even primal emotion. Anger is often seen in combination with other emotions.
We often get ourselves out of fear, grief, or worry, simply by getting angry,
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We often get ourselves out of fear, grief, or worry, simply by getting angry,
at ourselves or at another.
From a TCM perspective, this is very much, the body doing what it needs to
do to promote Qi flow and return to wellness. While we tend to take a dim
view of someone
expressing Anger, in
some situations, it is
in fact the healthy
thing to do. The
expression of Anger,
at least temporarily
has the effect of
promoting Qi flow and
clearing stagnant
blockages in the body.
Suppressing Anger
causes Qi to stagnate
in the Liver and
therefore affects Qi
flow in the body as a
whole.
Of course, we must
emphasize that the expression of Anger in particular situations is only a
temporary measure. It is what the Body does when all other measures fail.
Symptoms of Liver dysfunction include
Pain or distention in the hypochondriac region, at the sides of the body around
the diaphragm is a common sign of Liver disharmony.
Acute, stabbing pains anywhere in the body
Pain or distention in the eyes
Headaches at the sides of the head including Migraine headaches
Frequent and/or heavy sighing.
In Chinese Medicine, any kind of pain is considered to be Stagnation of Qi and
or Blood. This means that the treatment principal for any kind pain is usually
move Qi & Blood. From a TCM perspective then, if you have Fibromyalgia or
some other such condition characterized by 'mystery' pain, it would be a good
idea to look at your Anger.

The Heart/Joy
The heart houses the Mind in Chinese Medicine. The brain is
considered an extraordinary Fu organ, that is an empty sac, which is a
characteristic of Fu organs. The Brain is seen as a place to store and
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Compasisionate Dragon Healing: TCM Diagnosis

process raw data.

It is in the Heart that a persons essence and personality is kept.
This is why, in Chinese Medicine, many mental problems are seen as
disharmonies of the Heart.
From a TCM perspective, then, there is a medical basis for the
observation that lack of Joy or Love in a persons life ultimately makes
them crazy.
When you speak from the Heart, you speak from Joy and the world is
truly a brighter place.
Physical Symptoms of a Heart disharmony include
Shortness of breath
Sweating (in the absence of disease)
Pallor or pale complexion
Tiredness/listlessness
Stuffiness in the chest
Palpitations or irregular heart beat
Dizziness
Restlessness/agitation
Anxiety/confusion
Dream disturbed sleep
Insomnia
Poor memory
Propensity to be startled
Feelings of uneasiness
Muttering to ones self
Mania

The Kidneys/Fear
The Kidney system is often seen in combination with dysfunctions of other
organ systems. In TCM the Kidneys have the unique function of housing ones
corporeal essence or life force. One is born with YUAN QI, also called
Primary Qi or Congenital Qi. According to the theory one is born with only so
much Yuan Qi, which can never be added to, but which can be topped up by
Jing or Nutrient Qi from the Spleen.
Yuan Qi, may also be seen as the motive force of the Corporeal Soul which
animates the body. When ones Yuan Qi is all gone the body dies and the
Corporeal soul dies with it releasing the Ethereal Soul.
Physical manifestations of weak Yuan Qi are birth defects, problems with
birth, weak constitution, and susceptibility to childhood illness.
Strong healthy babies are said to have strong Yuan Qi.
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Whether

one has strong or weak Yuan Qi will affect one throughout life.

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Compasisionate Dragon Healing: TCM Diagnosis

Whether one has strong or weak Yuan Qi will affect one throughout life.
Weak Yuan Qi, or essence, may lead to complications or illness later in life,
premature aging, or death at a relatively young age.
A mans essence is manifest in his semen. The sexual organs are seen as part
of the Kidney organ system. Overindulgence in sex or masturbatory
ejaculation are a couple of ways that Kidney essence may be depleted.
A womans essence is manifest in her menstrual blood and giving birth.
Excessive menstrual flow, difficult pregnancies, and too many pregnancies will
deplete a womans essence.
Excessive fear over a period of time will also deplete Kidney essence.
A severe fright or a particularly intense ejaculatory orgasm in a man, will
deplete the Kidneys essence almost instantaneously.
Physical symptoms of Kidney Disharmony include
Weak or sore lower back.
Weak or sore knees.
Urinary dysfunction.
Darkness under the eyes.
Irregular or problematic menstrual flow.
Weak ejaculation.
Seminal emission.

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